411’s Wrestler of the Week 10.25.10: Week 30

Welcome to Week 30, Year SIX, of 411’s Wrestler of the Week. A quick overview of the rules to kick things off for us as a reminder…

Each writer chooses FIVE wrestlers from any promotion and each wrestler gets a point total attached to that ranking. It looks a little like this…

1st – 5
2nd – 4
3rd – 3
4th – 2
5th – 1

If you are wondering how some of the writers decide who to vote for, please check out our Wrestler of the Week Supplemental Column!

Then we tally up the votes and the official 411 Wrestler of the Week is crowned. But wait, there’s more! Each week the top SIX vote getters get a points value for their ranking which looks something like this…

1st – 15
2nd – 12
3rd – 9
4th – 6
5th – 3
6th – 1

…and they go towards the 411 Wrestler of the Year award to be announced each year at WrestleMania. This will be posted every Monday. Let’s see who wins this week…

Larry Csonka
1) Eddie Kingston
Eddie Kingston gets the nod from me this week, due to his victory in CHIKARA’s Torneo Cibernetico. Kington was not only the sole survivor out of the 15-men, but he defeated the BDK, who has been running over CHIKARA for a year. This was a huge win in a huge match in the company’s BIGGEST angle, so he needs to get some love this week.

2) John Cena and David Otunga: John Cena and David Otunga win the WWE Tag team titles, advancing the NEXUS/Cena angle, and giving Otunga his first taste of WWE gold.
3) AJ Styles: Successfully defended the TV Title on Impact this week.
4) Beer Money
5) Kaz Hayashi

James Cooke
1) Edge and Rey Mysterio
In what was a shock to many (myself included having picked Team Raw in the Roundtable), Team Smackdown continued to dominate Raw, with the high-flyer and the Rated R Superstar surviving for their team.

2) John Cena and David Otunga: Won the WWE Tag Team Championships by defeating Rhodes and McIntyre. They may not get along well as a team, but still a big moment for Otunga in winning his first championship, and being the first member of Nexus to hold gold!
3) Kane: STILL the World Heavyweight Champion, Kane! And this time, he seems to have taken out his brother once and for all by burying him alive.
4) Wade Barrett
5) Daniel Bryan

Aaron Hubbard
1) Eddie Kingston
Won CHIKARA’s Cibernetico, outlasted 15 other men and getting the biggest victory for CHIKARA in their war with the BDK, and followed up with a win on Tim Donst.

2) Edge/Rey Mysterio (TIE): Co-survivors of the Bragging Rights match, winning the event for the Blue Team for the second year in a row.
3) Daniel Bryan: Defeated Dolph Ziggler in a Champion vs. Champion match by submission.
4) Kaz Hayashi
5) John Cena & David Otunga

Francisco Ramirez
1) Kane
Not only retained the World Heavyweight title but also “buried” his brother alive this week. Kane has been on a roll and rightfully deserves it since he has never shied away from helping elevate somebody, bravo to the Big Red Machine.
2) Ultimo Guerrero- Ultimo Guerrero successfully defended the CMLL World Heavyweight Title against La Mascara, the La Mascara who has been on a roll lately, Ultimo Guerrero seemingly cut the wind from his sails and showed why continues to be “De Otro Nivel” translated “On another level”.
3) Rey Mysterio & Edge- Team Smackdown won the bragging rights again this year and the sole survivors, if I can call it that were Rey and Edge.
4) Eddie Kingston
5) John Cena & David Otunga

Len Archibald
1) Kane
Okay, can we finally…FINALLY stop putting all these other wrestlers on a pedestal that Kane has honestly….single-handedly been on top of since winning the WHC? Kane, who held the WWE Title for a cup of coffee TWELVE YEARS ago is currently enjoying the fruits of current success via being by far the most dominant world champion in any mainstream professional wrestling organization this year. I challenge anyone…ANYONE to name one wrestler who has dominated The Undertaker the way he has in his entire career. Mankind in 1996/97 came close, Brock in 2002 arguably came closer, but neither of them had effectively made The Undertaker his bitch for basically three straight months. PLUS he’s now somehow intertwined in the WWE’s biggest storyline with The Nexus. Not that it’s going to happen, but does the Big Red Machine need to beat ‘Taker at WrestleMania to finally give him his due? This is the MONSTER push everyone wanted him to have upon his debut. He has it now – respect the Devil’s Favorite Demon.

2) John Cena & David Otunga: I don’t like ties personally, but I need to here. John Cena not only wins the WWE Tag Titles, but he also plays a decisive hand in Wade Barrett NOT winning the WWE Championship. David Otunga is the first member of The Nexus to wear championship gold. Seven months ago, he was just Jennifer Hudson’s significant other – now he’s a champion. Chew on that.
3) AJ Styles: Defended and retained the TNA Television Title at Impact. It’s nice to see one of the best in-ring talents in the world able to show it off on television. It was a shady win, but for me, the “way” a character wins a match is an ends to the means.
4) Randy Orton
5) Edge

Chad Nevett
1) Kane
His third straight defense of the World Heavyweight Championship against the Undertaker? His third straight retention of the World Heavyweight Championship against the Undertaker. This time in a Buried Alive Match. I don’t care how he wins, Kane’s managed to best the Undertaker in three straight title defenses and has, basically, come out the winner of this feud. Finally, Kane bested the Undertaker.

2) Eddie Kingston: Had a big weekend in CHIKARA, winning the Torneo Cibernetico match for Team CHIKARA and handing the BDK a huge loss in CHIKARA’s huge story for this season.
3) John Cena & David Otunga: This unlikely duo won the tag belts. Otunga becomes the first member of the Nexus to hold gold (or, at least, the first member to do so while still in Nexus) and I don’t think anyone saw that coming.
4) AJ Styles
5) Edge

Robert S. Leighty Jr
1. Kane
-The man just went over the Undertaker in 3 successive PPVs with a World Title on the line. I don’t know if Kane just kept getting looked over because everyone assumed Taker was winning at some point, but it’s just not happening. Kane is the most dominant heel champion seen in a while in the WWE.

2. John Cena/David Otunga: I hate sacrificing a newer team that was starting to gel, but this should help further the Cena/Nexus storyline. Fascinating thing is that nobody could have ever dreamed Cena would be tag champs with the Dude from I Love New York.
3. Edge/Ret Mysterio: SmackDown dominates RAW for the entire week and props to these two for being the last men standing for the Blue Brand at Bragging Rights.
4. Daniel Bryan
5. AJ Styles

Michael Ornelas
1) Eddie Kingston
I spent the last month watching Chikara’s 2010 year and the end of 2009 (including the formation of the BDK) and I have to say that I’m really digging it. Having said that, Kingston deserves this for his win in the Cibernetico match where he took Tursas off his feet for the first time and beat him, and then went on to beat Tim Donst on Saturday.

2) Kane: Well I was just wrong (but pleasantly surprised) in all but one of my Bragging Rights predictions in the Roundtable, so apparently I know nothing about wrestling. Haha. I’m glad my number 3 pick won his match and more importantly, I’m glad Kane retained his championship. 3 PPV victories over Taker in a row to establish oneself as a monster champion is all I need to get on board. Hopefully he just tears through the competition for the next few months and keeps this going.
3) Daniel Bryan: Winning the best match I saw in the past week will almost always get you in my top 3 and that spot this week belongs to the US Champion Daniel Bryan (Not including the pre-taped Richards/Black match from ROH on HDNet this past Monday). Also, the debut of DANCIN’ DANIEL on Monday was great.
4) Edge/Rey Mysterio
5) John Cena

Jeremy Thomas
1) Kane
I may not have been a big fan of the match itself, but you have to give Kane credit for winning every step of his feud with the Undertaker to date. The latest involved him burying the Dead Man alive and against all odds, the Big Red Monster is still World Heavyweight Champion. As a Kane fan, I’m loving it.

2) David Otunga: Some may have issue with me giving this spot solely to Otunga, but the fact of the matter is that another World Tag team title reign isn’t a huge feather in Cena’s cap. On the other hand, this is Otunga’s first taste of WWE gold…and in fact, the first gold won by any member of the Nexus (besides Cena, of course). That’s pretty big for him.
3) Edge/Rey Mysterio: Edge and Rey Rey were the two survivors of the Bragging Rights match and surprised me by bringing the Bragging Rights to Friday night for the second time in a row. With Taker possibly out for a bit (he usually is after being buried alive or shoved in a casket), this pretty clearly positions Edge and Rey as the top faces on the brand.
4) AJ Styles
5) Eddie Kingston

Michael Bauer
1) Kane
Ok, let’s make the fact known. I hate the way Kane won the match and normally would never vote it first. However, I can’t overlook that he has now beaten The Undertaker for three straight Pay Per Views, with or without help. For that alone, I have to vote him first.

2) Eddie Kingston: Win the CHIKARA Torneo Cibernetico. Check. Be the first man to take the BDK monster Tursas off his feet. Check. Beating BDK the next night also. Check. Good week for Eddie.
3) Daniel Bryan: Best match on the show and it was the opener with Daniel Bryan beating Dolph Ziggler.
4) David Otunga / John Cena
5) Edge / Rey Mysterio (Tie)

Ryan Byers
1) Eddie Kingston
Maybe it’s just me, but the WWE Bragging Rights PPV was dreadfully uneventful. As a result, I look elsewhere for my number one, and I don’t think that anybody outside of WWE had a better week than Eddie Kingston. King was the sole survivor in CHIKARA’s annual Torneo Cibernetico, not only gaining a big victory for himself but also helping Team CHIKARA get a measure of revenge over the villainous Bruderschaft. His momentum continued to the next evening when he defeated the BDK’s Tim Donst in singles action, and Kingston rolls on to be my wrestler of the week.

2) Kaz Hayashi: All Japan Junior Heavyweight Champion Kaz Hayashi has an interesting match this week, as multi-time heavyweight champion Keiji Mutoh cut weight to challenge him for the junior title. Despite Mutoh’s best efforts, Hayashi came out on top, pinning the legend clean in the middle to gain his epic sixteenth consecutive successful defense of the championship.
3) Beer Money: US tag team Beer Money traveled to New Japan Pro Wrestling this week, and they immediately made an impact by defeating NJPW’s two top tag teams. On Friday, they upset the reigning IWPG Tag Team Champions Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson in a non-title match when Money pinned Anderson. Then on Saturday, they defeated the team of NO LIMIT, with Money again getting the fall after a powerbomb on Yujiro Takahashi. Poor Beer didn’t get to pin anybody, but I’d still call it a successful week for both men which probably sets them up for a big match on the January Wrestle Kingdom show for New Japan.
4) Daniel Bryan
5) Tim Donst

Andy Critchell
1) Edge
This is pretty easy actually. Edge (along with Big Show) had a big Battle Royale win on Raw. He then had a big win on Smackdown against a very game CM Punk. Sure, it was a DQ win but by the time the dust settled and the parade of finishers was complete, it was Edge who delivered the spear to Punk and stood tall at the end. Finally, Edge (along with Rey-Rey) won the Bragging Rights match at the PPV. That’s three high profile wins for the Rated R Superstar in a very busy week. It also signals a return to the top of the card for Edge, which is never a bad thing in my book.

2) Randall K Orton, Esq: Once again Orton has another dominating week. He got the win on Raw in a tag match with Cena, he then beat Kane in a Champion versus Champion match on Smackdown, and finally he successfully defended his title at the PPV and stood tall at the end. Like Edge, that’s three high profile wins and you gotta respect that.
3) Kane: I have to admit, I’ve been sleeping on the big guy a little bit but he’s really shown that he is a legitimate champion by dominating the Undertaker in PPV after PPV after PPV. He’s on the roll of his career and is really making the most out of his time in the spotlight. Good for him…and good for us that we get to see it.
4) John Cena
5) Eddie Kingston

THE WINNERS~!

Year-End Rankings Key:

WWE, Raw, SmackDown and NXT-Contracted Wrestlers are represented in BLUE.

TNA Contracted Wrestlers are represented in GREEN.

ROH Contracted Wrestlers are represented in RED.

US Independent Wrestlers are represented in MAROON.

Japanese Contracted Wrestlers are represented in BLACK.

Mexican Contracted Wrestlers are represented in MAGENTA.

Australian Contracted Wrestlers are represented in INDIGO.

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**PREVIOUS WINNERS** Year One Winner: Ric Flair Year Two Winner: Samoa Joe Year Three Winner: John Cena Year Four Winner: Chris Jericho Year Five Winner: CM Punk

If you are wondering how some of the writers decide who to vote for, please check out our Wrestler of the Week Supplemental Column!